Waiting for a late lecturer is to become a thing of the past at Manchester Metropolitan University. A new scheme will allow students to text a special hotline as they sit around deciding whether or not it is time to leave.

“10 minutes might not sound like a lot of time,” said Nicola Lee, President of Manchester Metropolitan University Students’ Union. “But it will have an impact on students’ education.”

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Kevin Bonnet agreed that lecturers should set an example, but refused to acknowledge that they were thinly spread at the University.

“Students have a voice and it is worth remembering they are adults and that they have the right to speak up,” Bonnet said. “I am resistant to the idea that students are consumers,” he continued, despite student debt averaging £15,000. “But their families are paying a lot of money.”